Passing through modernization and industrialization, the scale of the Korean economy increased and Korean society and industry as a whole dramatically changed. The food industry is no exception. In comparison with the past, diets have dramatically changed and Korean society is increasingly aware of food safety.
Among problems in terms of food safety, problems related to food poisoning are major social issues and emphasis on food safety is gradually increasing. Most cases of food poisoning are caused by bacteria. According to statistics of the Korea Food and Drug Administration, the number of patients with food poisoning was 5,999 in 2009 and 7,218 in 2010.
To prevent food poisoning, various kinds of antibiotic agents have been developed and are substantially used in foods. However, antibiotic agents are one of the factors that pose a significant danger to human health. Therefore, there is a need to develop safer antibiotic agents.
Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2006-0075800 (publication date: Jul. 4, 2006) discloses an antimicrobial composition for food which includes 20 to 50 wt % of an organic acid, 10.0 to 20.0 wt % of an organic acid salt, 0.1 to 1.0 wt % of chitosan oligosaccharide, 1.0 to 10.0 wt % of phyollen, and water constituting the remaining fraction. The invention disclosed in patent document 1 provides a novel antimicrobial composition suitable for use as an antimicrobial agent for foods and general purposes which includes an organic acid, an organic acid salt, chitosan oligosaccharide, and phyollen at a particular ratio and thus has excellent antimicrobial effects, which results in improved food preservation, has no breakdown of nutrients or no reduction in the texture of food, is not harmful to the human body, and has reduced sourness as compared to conventional acidulants.